Is this the right type of PC for me?

If you’re looking for a small-factor PC, to watch TV or DVD/Blu-Ray disks, play video games, listen to music, etc., you’re at the right place. If this is not what you’re looking for, check out our other Computer Systems instead.

The main case recommendation. The LIAN LI PC-V354 Micro-ATX cases line-up, available in Black (PC-V354B), Red (PC-V354R) and Silver (PC-V354A). Rest assured, if you don’t like these cases, there are also six other alternatives, for a total of nine (9) cases to pick from.

Hardware Parts Recommendations, Detailed Version

Motherboard:

I picked this motherboard for the High-End HTPC/SFF Gaming PC build due to its variety of ports on the back, as well as its oustanding power delivery circuitry, which will allow you to overclock the CPU to your heart’s content.

It includes Lucid’s Virtu software, which allows you to use the integrated GPU on the Core i7-2600K to convert video using Intel Quick Sync technology (which has its pro and cons), despite the fact that you’ll be using a dedicated video card.

Another interesting thing about the motherboard is the included ROG connect cable, which along the “RC Tweak It” application, which allows allows overclocking and BIOS adjustments on-the-fly from another system.

Ports, expansion slots, features, what’s included in the box, etc.

Expansion slots: On the board itself, you have two PCI-Express 2.0 16X (Single at 16x, Dual at 8x/8x) slots and one PCI-Express 4x slot.

Other connectors/features on the motherboard: Four four pins fan connectors, two SATA 6.0Gb/s, four SATA 3.0Gb/s, one USB 3.0 header, two USB 2.0 headers, Start/Reset buttons, LED debug and various voltage measurement contact points.

Included in the box: Motherboard, six SATA cables, a SLI cable, ROG connect cable(see the note above) manual, CD with drivers/utilities and I/O backplate.

Video Card:

The Geforce GTX 580 is the fastest single GPU video card on the market. How’s that for high-end? That’s not all though.

Factory overclocked

The reference GTX 580 has frequencies of 772MHz, 1544MHz and 4008MHz, for the core, shader and memory respectively.

This GTX 580? It runs at 857MHz, 1714MHz and 4214MHz. In other words, it is quite a bit faster than a reference GTX 580.

Hot and noisy video card? Far from it.

Now, you’d think that this factory-overclocked video card must run hotter than the reference card and that it must be way too noisy right? Nope, far from it. See, it is equipped with a all-in-one liquid cooling, which allows it to run at much lower temperatures and much lower noise level than the reference card.

Included CPU Water Block:

On top of that, it also includes a CPU water block to cool down your CPU, meaning that your CPU will be running cool and that you’ll be able to overclock it a lot, without adding noise to your system.

Talk about an ideal solution for a HTPC/SFF Gaming PC that you want to run quiet, without sacrificing performance nor overclocking potential!

The liquid-cooling system is already filled and sealed, installed on the video card, so you simply need to attach the CPU water block (which comes with thermal paste pre-applied) to your CPU and attach the radiator to the case back spot for a 120mm fan. It is a fairly simple installation, that does not require messing around with liquid in any way.

You’ll note that the video card still has a fan, but seeing as it doesn’t have to cool down the GPU, it can run at much lower speed, meaning that you won’t have to worry about having a fan that sounds like a leaf blower in your system.

Also note that you’ll have to remove the bottom hard drive cage from the recommended case. Still, with “only” the top hard drive cage, you still have space for three 3.5″ hard drives + two 2.5″ drives. If you need more than that, check out the alternatives recommended cases.

Video Playback/Decoding:

Glossary:

2D to 3D (CPU): Converting 2D SD isn’t very demanding, but converting 2D HD content is much more demanding on the CPU.

Frame Packing: One of the main 3D video format by HDMI 1.4a, for full-quality 3D movie playback.

SBS(H)/TAB/CB: Side-by-Side (Half), Top-and-Bottom and Checkerboard 3D formats, in order. The two first are main 3D video formats by HDMI 1.4a, used for broadcast contents. SBS(H) is also used by some Blu-ray 3D. CB is used by DLP 3D HDTVs from Mitsubishi and Samsung.

Feature comparison:

√ means that this feature is supported and/or that playback will be smooth.
√ High CPU % means that playback is relatively smooth, but that it may skip a bit due to high CPU usage %.
X means that this feature is not supported and/or that playback won’t be smooth.

Type of Video

Type of Decoding

Core i7-2600KGeforce GTX 580

3D Video

MVCMVC (CPU)2D to 3D (CPU)Frame Packing
SBS(H)/TAB/CB720p 120HZ AFS

√
√
√
√
√
√

2D Video

AVC/VC-1/MPEG-2
1080i60
1080p6023.976Hz

√
√
√
√

2D Video madVR

1080p24
1080i60
1080p60SD

√
√
√
√

As you can see above, the High-End HTPC/SFF Gaming PC support every feature and will smoothly playback pretty much any content.

The recommend motherboard does feature hardware RAID. Getting a second identical hard drive to run RAID 1 in order to have redundancy and to be able to recover from a hard drive failure is a good idea, considering that you’ll probably put your valuable media collection on this PC. The rest of the build is ready/compatible for a second hard drive.

Case:

Built with the usual quality that you can expect from LIAN-LI, this case is available in three different colors, anodized on vertically brushed aluminum, giving it a very nice finish.

It comes with many great features, such as front USB 3.0 ports, a front SD card reader, a fan controller and more!

Going with different case fans:

While the stock case fans are fairly silent, they move very little air. Also, they are very bright, not something that’s desirable for everyone. We’ll be replacing the two front fans (the top fan will be removed to make space for the liquid cooling radiator) for two much better fans. See the cooling section for more details on this.

Fan controller:

This case includes a fan controller, which allows you to control up to four fans. How convenient, considering that this build does feature four fans (Two front fans + two fans on the radiator).

A few notes regarding installation:

The radiator for liquid cooling needs to be installed on the back 120mm fan spot. In order for it to fit, you’ll have to remove the top 140mm case fan.

You’ll need to replace the case front cases by the ones that you bought. This requires you to remove the hard drive cages to get access to the front fans.

For the video card to fit, you’ll have to remove the bottom hard drive cage.

Make sure to hook up the front fans and the radiator fans to the case’s fan controller.

The sound card should be installed in the motherboard PCI-Express 4x slot.

Case alternatives:

All the cases below are fully compatible with this build, including with the liquid cooling radiator.

Power Supply:

One of the highest quality power supply available on the market, the Seasonic X650 will have no trouble handling this build, even with you overclocking it.

It will do so while being fairly silent and while being highly efficient (80 PLUS Gold).

It’s a modular power supply, so you only have to attach the cables that you actually need, making for less of a mess in the case. Also, it’s a fairly short unit, meaning that it will give you a bit more space to work with when assembling the PC.

Cooling:

CPU Water Block: Included with Video Card

This outstanding liquid-cooling setup will ensure that your CPU will be running cool and that you’ll be able to overclock it a lot, without adding noise to your system.

The liquid-cooling system is already filled and sealed, installed on the video card, so you simply need to attach the water block to your CPU (The water block has thermal paste pre-applied to it) and attach the radiator to the case back spot for a 120mm fan. It is a fairly simple installation, that does not require messing around with liquid in any way.

Included in the recommended buying list are four Cougar CF-V12HP fans.

You’ll be using two of them to replace the case two front fans, in order to improve the case airflow, without increasing noise.

The two other fans will be used to replace the two fans on the liquid cooling radiator, which are way too noisy for what we’re trying to achieve here.

Why these fans? Why not $5 a pop fans?

1- Reliability. These fans use Hydro-Dynamic bearings, which will last much longer than cheap Sleeve bearings, meaning that your fan won’t fail after a few months/a few years.

2- Noise/Airflow/Air Pressure Ratio. Cheap fans can output a lot of airflow, sure. However they also emit a lot of noise by doing so. These fans can emit as much airflow with less noise or more airflow at an equivalent level of sound. Also, these fans offer a good level of Air Pressure, which is crucial to cool down the radiator used to cool your CPU and GPU.

TV Tuner:

The motherboard has several expansion slots, but they will be either be occupied or covered by the video card and the sound card.

However, nothing stops you from using this USB TV Tuner if you wish to watch or record TV. Note that it is optional and that its price is not included in the build because not everyone wants or needs a TV Tuner.

Sound Card:

While the motherboard does include pretty good integrated onboard sound, it’s still integrated onboard sound and while that’s acceptable for a Budget or Mainstream HTPC/SFF Gaming PC, when you’re dropping this much money, you’ll definitely want the best when it comes to sound quality.

Alternatives:

While the Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium is a great sound card, it might not be up to the your standards and it may not offer features that you’re looking for. This is why I also recommend three alternative sound cards that are compatible with the rest of the system:

Accessories:

This is the least expensive input option at $51. For that price, you get a keyboard that features a numpad, an optical trackball, a scroll-wheel, two buttons for left and right mouse buttons “clicks” as well as many multimedia buttons.

With a good ThinkPad like key feel, and potentially infinite battery life, this is a good input device if you want a basic keyboard without worrying at all about battery life. Works great with the Marathon Mouse.

Recommended operating systems:

The operating system cost, if there’s one, is not included in the total cost. The two reason for this are:

The budget only considers hardware.

You may be able re-use a previous license, go with an open-source OS such as Linux or , if you’re so inclined and are aware of what you’re doing, use torrents.

If you decide that you need a need OS, here are some recommendations:

Windows 7

Despite Linux gaining more and more support, Windows still is the platform of choice for compatibility at the moment. Considering that you’ll have 4GB of RAM or more, along with a dedicated video that also has memory (512MB or 1GB), you’ll need a 64-bit version, as 32-bit is limited to 4GB of memory for the entire system, which is not enough now, nor in the future if you decide to upgrade.

Windows 7 is by far better than Windows Vista, looks better, more functional, less annoying, consumes less resources and brings DirectX 11 to the table.

Three Available Versions:

Windows 7 Home Premium: The basic edition, with all the looks, most of the functionality and DirectX 11.

Windows 7 Professional: If you want the virtual XP mode, you’ll need at least the Professional edition. Also required if you want to backup to a network, using the built-in backup mode in Windows.

Windows 7 Ultimate: To help protect data on your PC and portable storage devices against loss or theft with BitLocker and to work and switch between 35 languages.

OEM vs Retail:

The OEM version allows you to only install it once on a computer. You cannot transfer the license to another computer in the future and you do not receive support from Microsoft. It’s the same type of license you get when you get Windows on a desktop or laptop that you buy from Dell, HP and such. It’s less expensive, but gives less flexibility. Ideal if you intend on keeping your computer for many years.

The Retail version is the full version, which allows you to transfer the license to another computer in the future and you can call Microsoft if you need any form of support. Ideal if you intend on upgrading/changing your computer down the road.

Other than that, you get the same features on both, only the license differs. The price between the two differs obviously.

Linux

A lot of people these days boots more than one OS. Linux is a wonderful choice: powerful, cool, and cheap. Take your pick of distributions and have fun! For Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, Slackware, and Mandrake, try Distrowatch.com, Cheapbytes.com, LinuxQuestions.org or one of the many others.

While Linux does not offer the wide compatibility of Windows with video games, gaming on Linux is still possible, through projects such as Wine, Cedega and Crossover. For more on the topic of Linux Gaming, I invite you to read this excellent article from AnandTech: Linux Gaming: Are we there yet?

Conclusion

Your feedback matters!

Remember, we design these builds to be helpful to you! The best way for us to be helpful to you is for you to let us know how to improve these articles, by offering your feedback (Comments, suggestions, reactions, opinions, etc.) below in the comment section.

What do you think of the High-End HTPC/SFF Gaming PC v3.0? I’m personally thrilled about how much power and how much overclocking potential we can now achieve in such a small case, while still getting a near silent build! What’s your opinion? Would you recommend or would you want to try a different part? Let me know by leaving a comment below.

Next update to the High-End HTPC/SFF Gaming PC:

I will not be updating the High-End HTPC/SFF Gaming PC for a while, as I have several articles (laptops, tablets, Gaming PCs, Workstations, etc.) in the pipelines that I want to invest my time on.

Mind you, if there some major product launch (e.g. new video cards line-up, new CPU line-up), I’ll update this post if necessary.

If you have any questions/suggestions/ideas regarding what should be updated, make a thread over at our forums here.

The main case recommendation of the Mainstream HTPC/SFF Gaming PC: The LIAN LI PC-Q08 line-up of cases, available in Black (PC-Q08B), Red (PC-Q08R) and Silver (PC-Q08A).

Pros:

Strikes a good balance between performance and power consumptionAs much performance as possible in a Mini-ITX case

Can be used for gaming with Tier 4 or 5

Good mainstream computing power

Cons:

CPU and GPU are both adequate but not exceptionally powerful, as they are limited by space and power constraints

High End HTPC/Small Factor Gaming PCs v3.0 (This article)

The main case recommendation. The LIAN LI PC-V354 Micro-ATX cases line-up, available in Black (PC-V354B), Red (PC-V354R) and Silver (PC-V354A). Rest assured, if you don’t like these cases, there are also six other alternatives, for a total of nine (9) cases to pick from.

Pros:

Maximum performance when it comes to gaming, audio/video encoding or conversion

Only HTPC with (major!) overclocking potential, without sacrificing silence

Did you know that you can get our future articles for free via RSS orEmail?

That way, you never have to check the site for updates again because you get the latest and greatest articles delivered automatically in your RSS reader or Email inbox around 1PM EST, every day that I publish an article.

If you’re not familiar with RSS technology, here an article that explains What is RSS?

About Mathieu Bourgie: HR Founder - Computer expert with over 14 years of experience in building, fixing and modifying PCs.
Over the years, I’ve developed a passion for PC hardware and now I enjoy helping others build their own PCs!
In April 2008, I launched Hardware Revolution and ... Read more at my about page .

Did you enjoy this article? Support me and Hardware Revolution:

For each article, I spend many hours on research, writing and editing. I generously offer it to you and everyone else for free. If you appreciate my work, you can help me cover my costs (Hosting, living, etc.) and support our community by making a donation.

How much should you donate?

I suggest $10 because if you think about it, a consultation to help you find the best laptop for your needs, like the ones featured in this article, from an expert with a decade of experience like me would cost you $50, if not even more.

Have I mentioned all the time and money that I have saved you through this and all of the other articles available on Hardware Revolution?

Obviously, this is a suggestion. Donate what you can. Thank you very much.

Was looking forward to that update.. ah well. Seems to have gone kinda dark since the anniversary announcement. Hope all is well.

Peter M

Very good article, but I wonder why you recommend a sound card, saying “because it is for a top system, put a sound card it”. Should you not base the recommendation on the speakers/audio system used?

If it is for a “top HTPC”, you’d think that it will be connected to a good quality Hifi system. In this case, the best will be to pass the digital audio signals to the Hifi amp for decoding. A good sound card is simply waste of money in this scenario and will not give any advantage.

If someone connects eg analogue amped speakers to a HTPC, by all means, put in a good sound card with good quality analogue outputs. But again, in this case the user should decide based on his overall setup.

A new amp will be able to decode all the new codecs that come with Blueray etc.

Get our top-notch articles for free!

Enter your email address below to receive updates each time we publish new content.

Privacy guaranteed, I will not share your info in any way. See our privacy policy.